automatic backup

hi all,
i am searching for a solution in true image 2009 to make automatic backups in that way
that acronis should make 3 full backups by and by.
the next (4th) backup should replace automatically the oldest one,
so i will get always three current backups.
the task is not the problem.
is there any possibility to realize that.
greets,
pfefferkuchen

This was pretty easy in ATI10 and ATI11. IN ATI12/2009, Acronis for some mad reason decided to make it difficult. IN fact youhave to sort of fool ATI12/2009 into doing what you want, but it can be done.

IN the old days, you could use batch files to uniquely name the backups and delete the old ones. That's verbotten with ATI12 because it has an internal database of the backups you make so deleteions have to happen within ATI. With AI10 and ATI11 you could use Backup Locations to specify limits. That's gone in ATI12

There is a relatively easy way to get automated management of Fulls despite the geniuses in charge at Acronis -- Essentially you have to trick ATI 12/2009 into behaving as if it's handling incrementals and autoconsolidating incrementsal but then never give it any incrementals to consolidate so all it ends up doing is deleting excess Fulls. The details are in a post from Vlad V, who first reported discovering and testing this workaround:

The latest build of ATIH 2009 (9646) allows you to get what you want, though the solution is not obvious. Here's how:
1) At the "Backup method" step choose either "Incremental" or "Differential" method, select the "Create a new full backup after" checkbox and set "0" (zero) in the number of backups field. This will result in creating only full backups, but, in addition, will enable the "Automatic consolidation" step (disabled for the "Full" backup method), which will be needed for ensuring automatic deletion of the oldest backup.
2) At the "Automatic consolidation" step select the "Number of backups exceeds" checkbox and set a limit of 4 backups.
The program will create 4 full backups, then on the 5th run it will create a fifth backup thus exceeding the limit set on the number of backups. ATIH can't consolidate full backups, so it will simply delete the oldest one. This procedure will be repeated during the next task run, etc.
P.S. You must have space for at least 5 fulls. If there is not enough room for the 5th backup, the task run will be aborted, and the program will neither create a new backup, nor delete the oldest one.

pfefferkuchen asked for my batch file. It's a simple one and works for me. Always create your TI backup with the same name, say acronis.tib and have your batch file run about an hour later, on a schedule. The batch file renames acronis.tib to backup_1.tib and renames the other backups. The most recent backup is always backup_1.tib.

I don't use dated files. The date of creation is in the Date Modified (and Date Created) column of Windows Explorer.

You can test this batch file. Put it in a new folder and create a text file called acronis.txt in the same folder. Double click the batch file. Create another acronis.txt. Double click the batch file. You'll soon catch on.

What Id like to know is what the feature was dropped from the prior version? Why should I pay for a product (TI) and then have to jack around with BAT files to get the result that was already in the program??

I didnt see in the "Whats New in this Release" notes - the comment that "automatic consolidation of full backups was removed"

Im not happy. I may contact customer support and go back to the prior version.

I am completely amazed that there is not a simple way to do multiple full automated backups in TI Home 2009 and have the software manage the number of backups that are kept. It was more complicated than it should have been in TI Home 11 but it was possible. I'm not sophisticated (competent?) enough for batch files but I have used a workaround that I haven't seen mentioned on the forum: I want to do a weekly backup and always have the current and 3 prior weeks stored; I created 4 folders on the external drive where the backups are stored (named "1st Sunday", "2nd Sunday", etc) and I scheduled 4 different "Monthly" backups (one for the 1st Sunday of the month, one for the 2nd Sunday of the month, etc) with each to the appropriate folder. This works for me and with the variety of scheduling options supported by TI 2009 there are quite a few possibilities that this type of approach will handle. It is more work to set up than it should be but it does what I need.